HET with Controlled Burns on Surrounding Peaks

The Southern Area Incident Management Team undertook controlled burns on Sunday, April 17, 2011 to get rid of fuel on the mountains around McDonald Observatory. This would starve the Rock House wildfire of fuel should it head back in our direction. Here, Black Mountain is burning. The Hobby-Eberly Telescope dome is at right. Above it, the bright line on the right is the wildfire which broke through a burn-out line on Sunday afternoon. The bright line on the left is the front of a back-fire set to stop that portion of the wildfire. Silhouetted by the back-fires on Black and Spring (to the left) Mountains is Guide Peak now with only small pockets of active fires. (Credit: Frank Cianciolo/McDonald Observatory)